In Brief

THE Assiniboine Park Conservancy has announced the designers of its new conservatory.

Beating out 15 other bids, Smith Carter Architects & Engineers and Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects were selected to head the next component of the park's $200-million Imagine a Place project.

"This is going to be a signature building in Assiniboine Park for decades to come," said Don Peterkin, chief operations officer for the Assiniboine Park Conservancy. "We received 16 submissions and Smith Carter and KPMB came through with a proposal that combines international experience and the necessary local expertise to make the new conservatory as impressive as we and the community expect it to be."

The initial design phase for the project, expected to cost between $30 million and $50 million, will begin in 2013.

"We are extremely excited to be part of the rejuvenation of Winnipeg's jewel -- Assiniboine Park -- with the opportunity to bring form to the conservancy's vision of creating an iconic, sustainable and interactive destination for the next millennium," Smith Carter and KPMB said in a joint statement Tuesday.

The new conservatory, which will be located in the southeast corner of the park, is the latest stage of the conservancy's ongoing redevelopment project.

More than 1,000 vehicles stopped

WINNIPEG police stopped 1,350 vehicles in the second week of the Festive Season Check Stop Program, according to a news release.

One driver was arrested under the Intoxicated Persons Detention Act in the second week, the same number as the first week.

Four 24-hour driving suspensions were also handed out in the program's second week, and nine charges were laid for either driving impaired or refusing the roadside blood alcohol test.

Clown robs credit union

A man dressed as a clown and armed with a handgun robbed a Transcona-area credit union Tuesday afternoon.

Winnipeg police said the man was fully dressed as a clown -- pink hair, mask, polka-dot shirt -- when he confronted a teller at the Crosstown Civic Credit Union in the 1500-block of Regent Avenue West at about 2:30 p.m. Tuesday and made off with an undisclosed amount of cash.

Several police units responded to the call, including the K-9 team, which tracked a suspect to a nearby location where he was arrested and taken into custody.

The stolen cash was recovered.

Rondell McGarrett Johnson, 39, has been charged with robbery with a firearm, wearing a disguise with intent to commit a crime and public mischief.

Bus fares set to rise Jan. 1

Nearly all Winnipeg transit fares are set to rise in just under two weeks, taking effect on Tuesday, Jan. 1.

The full and Handi-Transit cash fares will be $2.50, up from $2.45. The reduced and senior cash fares are also going up by a nickel to $2.

Full-fare monthly passes will rise in price from $77 to $82.80, and the five-day pass will go from $19 to $19.35. Post-secondary passes will be $66.25, an increase of nearly $5.

All of the 2013 transit fare changes have been posted online (http://winnipegtransit.com/en/fares/transit-fares/).

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